President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration have generated fear and uncertainty among the country’s undocumented population, including some estimated 408,000 students enrolled in higher education institutions nationwide.
The Higher Ed Immigration Portal, a digital platform that merges data, policies and resources about undocumented students to back immigration reform and federal policy making efforts at the state and campus levels, estimates that almost 57,000 of those students are enrolled in Texas colleges and universities.
El Paso Matters reached out to several local college students who are undocumented, but they were anxious about sharing their stories and feared providing any information might identify and endanger them or their families. None wanted to discuss their concerns publicly even with the promise of anonymity.
In one case, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) student declined an interview request because her undocumented parents were in the process of applying for lawful permanent residency and she did not want to jeopardize their chances.
It is not just the students, experts say, as both students and institutions are trying to work within the system. Institutions want to offer support, but are cautious about what they say so as not to end up in the government’s crosshairs, according to an official with the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. One undocumented student encouraged her peers to find allies where possible, even on the internet, to learn their rights and where they can find financial aid with limited liability.
A spokesman at the University of Texas at El Paso said that the institution did not want to comment for this story; while Texas Tech Health El Paso promised a response but did not supply one before the story was published.
An El Paso Community College spokeswoman said that EPCC strives to create an inclusive environment for students, to include the less than 1% who are undocumented. The college is not sure about the new administration’s final policies, but it will follow all applicable state and federal laws, she said.
“It’s very clear that (the Trump administration is) trying to make people very uncomfortable regardless of whether these people have temporary status,” said a 20-something doctoral student who is studying social sciences at a central Texas university.
The student, who asked to remain anonymous because she is undocumented, said she is involved with a campus group that helps peers, especially first-generation students from low-income families.
“It’s very difficult, I think, to see what the next step is, especially right now,” she said during a phone interview.
The student said that her parents moved the family from Canada when she was 18 months old. The parents, who also live in Texas, are legal permanent residents who have applied for their naturalization. They hope to earn their citizenship in 2026. She expects her own petition process to be resolved in the next few years.
The woman said she advises students to learn as much as they can about the available resources and protections, to include seeking legal counsel, possibly through a free community legal clinic.
She suggested students turn to student-led campus organizations that assist undocumented students, institutions such as the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and even the internet to gain general knowledge about such things as in-state tuition and financial aid.
Her biggest concern right now is how she will be able to continue to fund her education to include jobs as a teaching assistant and/or a graduate research assistant until she earns her doctorate in 2028. She has been able to pay for college with state financial aid and private scholarships.
In 2001, then-Gov. Rick Perry signed the Texas Dream Act, which gave the state’s undocumented students, including DACA recipients, access to in-state tuition and state financial aid. President Barack Obama established the DACA program in 2012 to offer temporary protection from deportation and the opportunity to work to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as minors.
Trump has indicated that he plans to eliminate the DACA program, which had approximately 530,000 active participants as of last June 2024. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Jan. 17 that parts of DACA were illegal because they were not aligned with the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. Despite its ruling, the court limited its effect on the program, according to MALDEF, a national Latino nonprofit civil rights organization.
The doctoral student advised Texas college students not to expect institutional support because of the passage of Senate Bill 17 by the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023. The law prohibited public higher education institutions from participation in diversity, equity and inclusion programs to include staff and financial support.
“That changed the dynamics at my institution,” she said.
At EPCC, the spokeswoman said the college provides students with the necessary information to decide whether they should apply for financial aid, whether they are undocumented or are from a mixed-status family. A mixed-status family is a family whose members include people with different immigration status. Regardless of a students’ legal status, Texas residents may apply for the Texas Application for State Financial Aid, or TASFA.
“EPCC informs all students about the information they must provide so they can make an informed decision about whether to apply,” the spokeswoman said, adding that students who do not qualify for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), such as students who are undocumented, may qualify for private loans or scholarships.
Students who are eligible for financial aid may be concerned about submitting a FAFSA to the federal government if they have family members who are undocumented, said Corinne Kentor, a policy and communications associate with President’s Alliance HEI.
Past data sharing agreements between the departments of Education and Homeland Security explain that information will be shared to confirm students’ eligibility for federal aid. Kentor said her organization is unaware of personally identifiable information submitted through the FAFSA being used for immigration enforcement.
“That said, we do not know what may be attempted in the future, and it is possible that new data sharing agreements could be established between the departments,” Kentor wrote in an email to El Paso Matters. “This is an important moment for advocates to stay vigilant and for practitioners to keep families informed so they can make the best decision possible.”
The Presidents’ Alliance HEI website offered practical steps that colleges and universities could take to protect the data, rights and safety of their students who are undocumented.
Luz Bertadillo Rodriguez, President’s Alliance HEI director of campus engagement, said most public colleges and universities are hesitant to talk about this issue because officials do not want their students or their institutions to be targeted. Students who are undocumented share many of those concerns.
“That’s creating a fear, and I think it’s going to create confusion for undocumented students,” she said in a phone interview.
The main questions she hears from campus administrators at the two-year, four-year, public and private institutions involve their rights, the best ways to protect undocumented student data, and how to physically protect their students. The key tips she gets from institutions are to collect only as much student information as necessary, use special codes to protect sensitive student information, and develop protocols in case agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection are on campus for reasons other than career fairs or class presentations.
Bertadillo said that some institutions do not want that data, especially now, while others do want it because it allows them to communicate with those students about helpful resources.
She predicted that executive orders such as the one that eliminate protective areas on campuses will affect the students mental health and their civic involvement.
The doctoral student from central Texas, whose research involves mental health, said that her students often are resilient initially, but the normal stress of higher education and the additional uncertainty created by today’s political climate eventually will take a toll on students’ mental well-being.
“I tell my students to take care of themselves, to microdose their level of social media and news, and just try to minimize the stress,” she said, adding that she does not always follow her own advice. “Just reading the news every day you don’t think it could ever get worse, but it has.”
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